Functional Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Chipped Stone Tools

8/18/2019 Functional Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Chipped Stone Tools

1/7

Board of Trustees, Boston University

News and Short ContributionsAuthor(s): Emma Lou Davis, John S. Henderson, Thomas R. Hester, W. D. Kingery, W. H.Gourdin, John Tomenchuk, Steve Tomenchuk, R. Ross Holloway, Norman HammondSource: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1976), pp. 341-357Published by: Boston UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/529442 .

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2/7

346

Newsand

Short

Contributions

carefully

squared

blocks.

Surprisingly,here

is no ap-

parentpattern

n the

distribution

of the

dressedstone,

and

there are

no surface

indications

that the

mounds

supported

tructures.Wedid

not

excavate n the

central

zone, but we

did clean and

record

proEllesxposed

by

huaqueros' its in

three of the

mounds.One

was a solid

cobble construction; he others contained a combina-

tion

of trash

fill and

stone

construction,but they

were

too badly

destroyed

o permit

dentification f theirin-

ternal

structures.

We

excavated hree test

pits in the

northern

ector of

the site,

where

stream cuts

revealedstratified

cultural

deposits

extending to a

depth of

more than 4

m.

Analysisof the

excavated

material s

now in

progress;

the

preliminary

ndicationsare

that LaSierra s

basical-

[y a Late

Classic

site (ca.

650-900 A.C.).

The lower

excavation evels

probably

represent n earlier

Early o

Middle

Classic, ca.

200-650 A.C.)

occupation.

Radio-

carbonassays

on a series

of

charcoalsamples

from the

excavations houldrefine hedating.

Judgingby

the variety

of polychrome

pottery

from

the

excavations, La

Sierra

had

wide-ranging

xternal

connections:

withCopan

andthe

Maya area to the

west

and north

and with

the Ulua

Valley,

Lake Yojoa, the

Comayagua

basin,and

probably till

more

distantareas

to

the east and

south. The

constructions

n the

central

part of

La Sierra

present an

intriguing

possibility.

Similar

massive mound

complexes

on the

island of

Cozumel a

late exchange

center

have been

inter-

preted as

storage

facilitiesfor

goods in

transit.5At La

Sierra, he

platforms ould

easilyhave

served o

protect

perishablegoods from the river, which periodically

floodslower

partsof the

site.

We

excavated two test

trenchesand

made a

topo-

graphic

map at El

Regadillo,a

small site some

3.5 km.

west of La

Sierra. El

Regadillo

appearsto be

a single-

period site

contemporarywith

the earlier

occupationof

La

Sierra.The

flaked

stone from

the

excavationscon-

sists

mainly of

several

varieties of

crypto-crystalline

quartz

which exists in

outcrops on

the hill

above the

site. El

Regadillomay

have been

a supplier

of these

local

raw

materials orother

settlements n

thevalley.

Analysesof the

data fromthe 1975

season

are nowin

progress.In

futureEleld

easons we

plan intensive

n-

vestigationsof Naco and La Sierra.At both sites, the

first

priority

will be

completingaccurate

maps

which

can be

used in systematic

programs

of

intensive urface

survey and

excavation

to

investigatefunctional

and

5. JeremyA.

Sabloff and

David A. Freidel,

'A Model

of a Pre-

ColumbianTrading

Center,"

Ancient

Civilizationnd Trade

Albu-

querque

1975) 369-408;

JeremyA. Sabloff

and William

L. Rathje,

"The Riseof a Maya

Merchant

Class,"SAm

233:4 1975)

72-82.

chronological

variation

within the sites.

We hope

to

identifycraft

production ones,

residential

reas,

public

sectors, and

perhaps

storagefacilities

and even

foreign

barrios.

We shall

also proceed

with the

surveyof

the

rest of

the

valley, with test

excavations n

a series

of

sites, to

produce

additionaldata

for the

chronologica

sequence,settlementpatternanalysis,and other basic

studies.

JOHN

S.

HENDERSON

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

Functional

Analysis of

Ancient

Egyptian

ChippedStone

Tools:

The Potential

for Future

Research

Introduction

The

analysis of

wear

patternson

ancient stone

tools

has

become one of the

primary

research

echniques

or

archaeologists eeking

nformationon

the precise

unc-

tion of

prehistoric mplements.l

The

evidenceof

use

comes

in many

forms, such

as dullingof the

tool edge,

use-removalof tiny flakesalong the edge, scratchesor

striations, and other

marks

associatedwith

tool func-

tion. In

some instances,

certainkinds

of wear

can be

detected with

the naked

eye; most

wear pattern

research,

however,

has been

done with

microscopes

capable

of high

magnification.2 he

data

provided by

patternsof

use-wearcan be

combined

withother

kinds

of

information

obtained from

the tool,

including the

angleformed

by thetool

workingedge

(theedge

angle),

morphological

attributes,

breakage

patterns, ex-

perimental

use of

tool

replicas, and

ethnographic

1. See T. R. Hester and R. F. Heizer, "Bibliography of Archaeology

1:

Experiments, Lithic

Technology

and

Petrography,"AddisonWesley

Module n

Anthropology9 (1973).

Experiments

using

Egyptian tools

have been

reported by J.

Swauger and B. L.

Wallace,

"An Experiment

in Skinning

with Egyptian

Paleolithic

and Neolithic

Stone Imple-

ments,"

Pennsylvania

rchaeologist

5 (1964) 1-7.

2.

See L. H.

Keeley,

"Technique and

Methodology in

Microwear

Studies: A

Critical Review," WA7

(1974)

323-336; R. E.

Tringham et

al.,

'sExperimentationin the

Formation of Edge

Damage: A

New Ap-

proach to

Lithic

Analysis," JFA 1 (1974)

171-196, and S.

A. Semenov,

Prehistoric echnology

London 1964).


3/7

Journal

of Field

Archaeology/Vol.

,

1976

347

analogy.

With

these

data, we

can

often infer,

on

other

than

subjective

grounds,

the

actual function

of the

prehistoric

stone

tool

and the

behavioral

patterns

associated

with

tool use.

This

avenue

of anthropologi-

cal

investigation

s still in

a nascent

stage

and will

no

doubt

be greatly

refined

andexpanded

ncoming

years.

During

two

research

rips

to Egypt,

I

had the occa-

sion

briefly

to examine

a number

of chipped

stone

tools,

from

Predynastic

and

Dynastic

times,

in the

Egyptian

Museum

(Cairo).3

t occurred

o me, as

I am

sure it

has to

many

others,

that these

materials

could

yield

a wealth

of functional

and behavioral

data

if sub-

jected

to

wear-pattern

nalysis.

At the

time

of my

visits

in Egypt,

there

was neither

the

opportunity

nor the

facilities

to carry

out such

research.

I have,

however,

conducted

a test

study

with

a

sample

of Egyptian

chipped

stone

artifacts

assembled

rom

the collections

of the

Lowie

Museum

of Anthropology

at The

Univer-

sity of California, Berkeley.The wear-patterndata

recorded

during

his

study,

andthe inferences

based

on

these

data,

arereported

here.

Most

of

the artifacts

examined

are

from mortuary

contexts

at

the site

of

Naga-ed-Der,

dating

from

Predynastic

imes

into the

first

andsecond

dynasties

of

the Old

Kingdom.4

The

bulk

of the specimens

are

from

various

burials

nCemetery

N7000.

Artifact

Analyses

Unifacial

Series

A

group of

eight

unifacially

worked

flintswere

ex-

amined.

One specimen

is a large

"end

scraper"

FIG.

I,a), made

on

a large

flakeand

unifacially

rimmed

at

the distal

end,

forming

a convex

"scraping"

dge.

This

particular

pecimen

was

found

in the badly

plundered

Tomb

N7538 (Cemetery

7000)

and

dates from

the

Predynastic

ra.

The

specimen

was

partof

a cluster

of

flint tools,

including

a "tailed

scraper"

described

ater)

and

a small

blade.5

The

entire

ength

of the

convex

dis-

tal edge

of

this large

uniface

exhibited

dulling;

he edge

angle

of the

distal

edge

was 70°.

In two

areas,

marked

3. The

major

objective

of the

research

trips

(supported

by the

National

Geographic

Society)

was a study

of the

Colossi

of Memnon

(directed

by

R. F. Heizer);

ee R.

F. Heizer

et al.,

"The Colossi

of

Memnon

Revisited,"

cience

182

1973)1219-1225.

4. G.

A. Reisner,

The Early

Dynastic

Cemeteries

of

Naga-ed-Der,

Part /

(Leipzig

1909);

A. C. Mace,

The Early

Dynastic

Cemeteries

of

IVaga-ed-Der,

Part 11 (Leipzig

1909);A. M.

Lythgoe,

The

Predynastic

Cemetery

N7000,

Naga-ed-Der,

Part

/V (Berkeley

1965).

5. Lythgoe,

op.

cit. (in

note 4)

Fig. 158,

h, i.

O 1 2

X 4 5

I

, | ,

, 1z

Figure

1.

Unifaces.

a, large

end scraper

Tomb

N7538);

areasmarked

A and

B exhibit

heavyedge

dulling;

b end

scrapermade

on blade

(Tomb

7185); ross

section

llustrates

he

alternately

eveled

ateral

edges.

A and B in Figure l,a, dulling

was heavy.6

A glossy

sheen

accompanies

he heavy

dulling

on

the specimen,

and

dulling

extends

onto

the faces

of

the flake

scars

at

the

distal

end. Since

the

artifact

was

recovered

rom

a

tomb

context,

one

cannot

attribute

he

extensive

gloss

or polish

and

the widespread

dulling

to

weathering

or

other

natural

processes.

The combination

of wear

patterns

on the

artifact

suggests

that

the

tool

might

have

been

used in

skin-working

or meat-processing

tasks,

or

in the

working

of some

other

pliable

material

into

which the

edge

was

repeatedly

mbedded.

Dulling

wear

also

occurs

along

a portion

of

one lateral

edge.

This

edge is

bifacially

rimmed,

perhaps

representative

of the resharpeningof a previouslydulled working

edge.7

The

artifact s

quitelarge

(12.5

cm.

long and

7.8

cm.

wide)

and could

have

been

hand-held

or

use as

a

scraping

and/or

cutting

ool.

Five

other

unifacial

artifacts

can

be technically

described

as "end

scrapers

made

on

blades."

All

are

from

Cemetery

7000

(FIG.

,b; FIG

2). These

are the

"tailed

scrapers"

f Reisner8

nd

the

"flint

knife"form

of

Quibell.9

All

havebeen

unifacially

laked

at thedistal

end.

One specimen

from

Tomb

7579

according

o

the

Lowie

catalog)

exhibits

heavydulling

along

the

bit

or

working

edge,

a

second

(from

Tomb 7538)

has both

dulling

and step-flaking

(tiny

flakes

detached

during

6. A definition

of "heavy

dulling"

s provided

n

T. R.

Hester,

D.

Gilbow,

and A. Albee,

"A

Functional

Analysis

of'Clear

Fork'

Tools

from

he Rio Grande

Plain,

Texas,"

AmAnt

38 (1973)

90-96.

7. The

technique

of beveling

n the

resharpening

f a

dulled

cutting

edge s

described

n detailby

J. B. Sollberger,

A Technological

tudy

of Beveled

Knives,"

Plains

Anthropologist

16

(1971)

209-218.

8.

Reisner,

p. cit.

(in note 4).

9.

J. E. Quibell,

"Archaic

Objects,"Catalogue

Ceneral des

Antiquites

Egyptiennes

du

Musee

du Caire(

1905).


4/7

348 NewsandShort Contributions

quite steep and has resulted n bevelededges with edg

angles of 60°-75°. While such trimmingmay have bee

done to help shape the artifact, here are some traceso

wear on the edges. I suggestthat the beveling s simpl

the resultof resharpening worncuttingedge."

Anotherunifacial ool is made on a largeblade,trun

cated at one end. There is extensive, nvasive rimmin

or retouch along one lateraledge. We can describe h

piece technologically s a "side scraper."This termwel

suits the tool, as there is heavy step-flakingalong th

trimmededge, indicativeof the tool's use as a scrapin

implement.'2 t is listed in the catalog of the Lowi

Museumas specimen6-3664

FIG. 3,a).

Bifacial Series

A number of specimens in the Lowie sample ar

bifacially flaked flint artifacts. They representa wid

varietyof forms.

One biface

(FIG. 3,b) iS

asymmetricaln outline, with

one edge convex and the other straight.The main "cut

ting" edge appears o have been the convex one as it is

roughlybeveled from resharpening.'3 he straightedg

is lightly to moderatelydulled along most of its length

with high polish and abrasion of flake facets for 1-

mm. away from the edge.'4 The heaviest wear, in the

form of dulling and abrasion, occurs at the tip of th

specimen.The artifact was found in Tomb N7579 ac

cording to the Lowie catalog; two "end scrapers"wer

also apparently rom this samecontext.

Several of the bifaces are quite large. One lunat

specimen (31.7 cm. in length) is described as "cere

monial" by Reisner.'sIt is made of tan-pinkish her

There is some light dulling,which is not necessarily h

result of use, near one edge, with the remainingedge

showingno signs of wear.There s, however,bevelinga

a 45° angle along the convex edge of the biface; n thi

case, the bevelingmay not represent esharpening, u

perhaps platform preparation for flake removal o

some other aspect of the manufacturing proces

Lythgoe describes wo other large bifaceswhich I hav

not personally xamined.'fiOne, from Tomb 7491, is 26

cm. long, with "one end roughlyworked or a handle.

11. This is an opinion shared by Quibell, op. cit. (in note 9) 252

Pl. S 1.

12. Hester,Gilbow,and Albee,op. cit. (in note 6) 94-95.

13. See Quibell,op. cit. (in note 9) Pl. 51, for illustrations f bevelin

resulting rom resharpening f edges on EgyptianPredynastic ton

tools.

14. See Semenov,op. cit. (in note 2) 106, for a discussionof ston

tool wearresulting rommeat-cuttingasks.

15. Reisner,op. cit. (in note 4).

16. Lythgoe,op. cit. (in note 4) 310, 381-383.

, \1- W

\

1 t

1 2

3

4

s

a

Figure2.

Unifaces.

a - c. end scrapersmadeon blades; has heavy

dullingon bit (Tomb7579);b, step-fracturingresent long bit

(Tomb7579); , note light dullingon bit and heavydullingalong

lateral dge(Tomb7185).

I -l

-

-

1

a

X |

2 3 4 5

Figure 3. Unifaces and Bifaces. a, uniface made on truncated blade

(Lowie Museum 6-3664); b, asymmetrical biface, with beveling along

left edge and dulling and abrasion at distal tip (Lowie Museum 6-

4257); c, "fish tail" biface; specimen has wear along lateral edges; EIsh

tail end has been broken and reworked (see text; Lowie Museum 6-

3 102).

use), another Tomb 7185) has a lightly dulled bit edge

and heavy dulling on the distal portion of the lateral

edge adjacent o the bit, and a fourth example(Tomb

7579), shows no evidence of use. The Elfthspecimen

(FIG. I,b),

from Tomb 7185 (Predynastic),has

a

distal

workingedge that has seen heavy, sustaineduse. There

is markedstep-flaking undercutting he workingedge)

and the edge itself has been crushed. Such wear may

have resulted from wood-working,perhaps using the

tool in an "adzing" ashion.'°

These Elvespecimens also exhibit alternate dorsal-

ventraltrimmingof the lateral edges. This trimming s

10. See Hester, Gilbow, and Albee, op. cit. (in note 6) 94.


5/7

Journal f FieldA

rchaeology/Vol.3, 1976 349

It was found "in

the right hand, clasped n the

fingers"

of an adult female, "well on in

years."'7It appears o

have been ceremonially broken

near mid-section.

Another arge

biface describedby Lythgoecomes

from

Tomb 7583. It

is 23 cm. long, and is describedas "two

halves of a

broken flint spearhead,one end roughly

worked as a handle. The other end finished to a fine

fish-teethedge

on all sides."'8It was found

associated

with an adult

male. The placementof the biface in the

grave suggests

that it, too, was held in or near the

hands; however, the limbs of the

skeleton had been

removedby

plunderers.

I also

examinedsix of the well-known, errated"fish

tailed knives" (the "fish tailed lance heads" of

A1-

dred'9), all

from Naga-ed-Der. These tools were

ap-

parently hafted, with the pointed

(normally"distal")

end inserted nto a haft and

the''filsh ail" portionex-

posed.20Lythgoenotes the

discoveryof one specimen n

Tomb N7625 associated with a wooden handle. The

pointedend had

been inserted4-4.5cm. in the haft.

The

particularpecimenwas found near

he left forearmand

elbow of an

adultmale skeleton.21

These bifacesare here, as in other

collections, ypiEled

by tiny, sharp

serrationson the edges of the "fishtail,"

with heavy, ntentionaldulling to

facilitatehafting,one

assumes)on the

pointed portion.One specimen

Tomb

N7120; Lowie

6-3102) appears o have seen use.

There

is dulling on both the ''fiIsh ail"

and pointed portions,

and indeed, the serrations have

been worn away.

Moreover,one cornerof the "fish

tail" has beenbroken

and subsequently eworked

FIG.

3,c).

Most of the "fish tail" bifaces,however, eem to have

been destined

for ceremonialuse and disposal.

Many

have been intentionallybroken by

direct blows at the

near-center of the blade, with the fracture

lines

radiating

outward.22Lythgoe notes the following

cir-

cumstances n

which several of the "fish tail"

bifaces

were found: n

Tomb N7014, the base of the bifacewas

in a ceramic aucercontaining

piecesof malachiteanda

lump of resin; the tip lay

outside; in Tomb 7271, a

brokenspecimenoccurred,with

the "fish tail" end un-

17. Ibid.,310; ig. 138,

.

18. Ibid.,381-383; ig. 171,c.

19. C. Aldred,

Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom(New York 1966)

25. For other

descriptions f this artifact orm,see Quibell,op. cit.

(in

note

9?

and C. T. Currelly,"Stone

Implements,"Catalogue

General

des Antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire

(1913).

20. Currelly, p. cit. (in note 19)P1.XLVII, llustrates hafted

exam-

ple.

21. Lythgoe,op. cit. (in note 4) 409; FIg. 84.

h.

22. Quibell, op. cit. (in note 9) Pl. 52,

illustrates a number of

specimens roken n this manner.

der a shallow

bowl in one partof the grave, and the

tip

lyingnear the

skeleton.23

One notesthat among the

''filsh ail" bifacesat Naga-

ed-Der, all

are made of darkgray chert with light

tan

mottling.This obviously

represents preference n the

part of the flint-working raftsmen or craftsman?)

who

produced hespecimens.

Crescent-shapedlints

Lunate or

crescenticchippedstone tools have

been

describedby

variousauthoritiesas having been

used to

bore or drill alabastervases or

other stone vessels,or

used for cutting limestone.24 uch implementsare

par-

ticularly

common at the site of Saqqara.25

Various

hieroglyphic epresentations f

stone vase boringequip-

ment indicate

some kind of detachable"drillbit,"

often

of crescentic

orm.2fi

Having

helped to record in great detail the

contem-

porary alabaster vase making technology in Upper

Egypt in 1971

and 1972, I am convinced hat had

such

"crescents"been used to bore

stone vessels, veryheavy

use-wear

(especially heavy edge dulling) would

have

resulted. I examined one such

specimen in the Lowie

collections,

and it showed absolutely no wear.

Those

crescents I examined while in

Egypt also showed no

macroscopicevidence of havingbeen used in such

ar-

duous tasks. I feel certain that the crescentswere

not

vase borers,

although furtherwear pattern

analysis of

these specimens n other

collections is required o test

this assertion.The actual drillbits were most likely

len-

ticular pieces

of sandstone or quartzite,

specimensof

which have been found bearing appropriate wear

marks.27

ModifiedBlades

Thirty blades in the Lowie sample have been

uni-

facially

rimmed ventral o dorsal)and/or truncatedat

the proximaland distal ends.

Many of these resemble

sickle components, and are

especiallysimilar to those

23. Lythgoe,op. cit. (in note 4) 156;FIg.

8.

24. C. M. Firth"A DatableFlintTool,"

Antiquity4 (1930) 104-105.

25. C. M. Firth and J. E. Quibell,

Excavations at Saqqara, The Step

Pyramid, Vol. I

(Cairo 1935); -P Lauerand F. DeBono, "Techniqu

de Faconnage

des Croissantsde Silex Utilises dans

lsEnceintede

Zoser,"Annales

du Service des Antiquites de l'Egypte 50 (1950)

1-18.

26. P. Montet,

Les Scenes de la Vie Prive'edans les Tombeaux

Egyp-

tiens de

l'Ancien Empire (Strasbourg1925);V. G. Childe,

"Rotary

Motion,"

History of Technology, Vol. I (New York and London

1954

193.

27. L. Borchardt"Das Gradbdenkmal

des Konigs Ne-User-Re,"

Deutsche Oriente-Gesellschaft

Wissenshaftliche Veroffent-Lichunge

(1907).


6/7

350 Newsand ShortContributions

One distally runcatedblade n the samplehas a strik-

ing platformwhich is distinctly ipped (overhanging n

the ventral side). The dorsal rim of the platform is

dulled. Such dulling was often done in stone working

technologies as platform preparation, and the over-

hanging or lipped platforms are usually the result of

soft-hammer percussion.31No evidence of use was

found on this specimen

FIG. 4,c).

Concluding omments

In this brief note, I have summarized he resultsof a

test study of wear patterns ound on chipped tone tools

from ancient Egypt. Of course this exercise,using such

a small sample of artifacts, cannot lead to any far-

reachingcommentsor interpretations egarding he ac-

tual function of certain categories of Egyptian stone

tools. However,I hope this study has at least suggested

the potential for wear-pattern esearchwith Egyptian

lithics. Technologicalor functional studies (as well as

almost all other considerations) of Predynastic and

Dynastic stone tools in Egypt have been almost totally

31. For a description f flake attributes esulting rom soft-hamme

,nercussion, ee D. E. Crabtree,An Introduction to Flint- Workin

(Pocatello, Idaho 1975)44, 74-75;see also p. 84 for a discussionof

dullingas a formof platformpreparation.

E D 7

s /- -

b i 0 ' _

O 1 2

3

4

s d e

l l

X

,

|

lem

Figure4. Blade Tools. a, b, bi-truncated lades Lowie Museum6-

544 and 6-2539); pecimen has dullingwearat both truncated nds;

e, sickleblade Lowie Museum -412);d, pointedbladewith trimming

along eft edge and at tip (Lowie Museum6-544); , distally runcated

blade see text; LowieMuseum -544).

found in place on wooden handles in a tomb at Saq-

qara.28Eighteen examples bear no traces of utilitarian

use. The other 12 evidencevaryingdegreesof wear, in-

cluding glossy sheen, minute step-fracturingon the

trimmed (truncated)ends, edge retouch, and dulling.

Interestingly,most of those with wearrevealed vidence

of use on the truncated nds, suggesting hat they might

have been "end scrapers" in functional terms (FIG.

4,a,b).

Two bi-truncated lades exhibiteduse-wearwhich in-

dicates their use as sickle blades

(FIG. 4,c).

Both have

one lateral edge with numerousserrations,dulled and

worn from use, and accompaniedby the characteristic

"sickle polish" or glossy sheen. However, th.eopposite

lateral edges on both specimensare also heavily dulled

and have the glossy sheen. It seems likely that these

edges were originally serrated but were worn down

(with "sickle polish" accruing),and then "reversed" o

that the opposite edge could be used. Several archae-

ologists have described the traits found on "sickle

blades,"29 nd Petrie has done so particularly n refer-

ence to Egypt.30

Six pointed blades ("lancets") were also studied.

These had tiny striking platforms (1 x 1 mm. on the

average)and diffuse bulbs of percussion.Two had the

platforms and bulbs trimmed away, suggesting that

they might have been hafted. However, only one

specimen (Lowie 6-544) bore any trace of use, in the

form of fine edge trimmingalong one side and at the tip

(FIG. 4,d).

28. Examples f well-preservedickles with stone blades)are on dis-

play in the EgyptianMuseum Cairo), and are from the site of Saq-

qara; ee also H. Frankfort,The Birth of Civilization in the Near East

(GardenCity, New York 1956)Pl. 1, E.

29. See J. Witthoft,"GlazedPolishon FlintTools,"AmAnt 32 (1967)

( I967) 383-388.

30. See W. M. F. Petrie,Tools and Weapons(London 1917)46.

Figure 5. Biface. Large biface typical of those used in ceremonial

oxen butchering in Old Kingdom times. Beveling resulting from

resharpening technology is to be found along the convex (lower) edge

(length of specimen, 15.3 cm.; Lowie Museum 6-1861).

-

- -

-

-

-

a

cml 11 21 31 41 51


7/7

Journal f FieldArchaeology/Vol.3, 1976

351

ignored since the

early publications of Quibell32and

Currelly.33 oth Quibell and Currellymade

numerous

statementsabout the presenceof wear on stone tools in

the collections of the Egyptian Museum.

Currelly, or

example,noted the

recurrence f beveling which he in-

terpretedquite correctly as evidence of

resharpening)

on the large, handled lint bifacesused in oxen butcher-

ing duringOld

Kingdom imes

FIG.

5).34

There are large

samples of Egyptian stone tools in

museum collections around the world. A

program of

systematic

wear-patternanalysis, coupled with repli-

cative experimentsand a review of

pertinent ancient

Egyptian texts and

tomb reliefs, could provide the

archaeologistwith

substantive nformationon the day-

to-day use of these tools. Review of tomb

association

data might also

provide, as I indicated earlier in this

paper,the specific inkageof certain ool

formseither o

male or female use. I

believe such studieswould be a

significantcontribution o the

anthropological nalysis

of life in ancientEgypt.

THOMASR. HESTER

THE UNIVERSITYOF TEXASAT SAN ANTONIO

32. Quibell,op. cit. (in note

4).

33. Currelly, p. cit. (in note 4).

34. Additionaldescriptionof resharpeningechniques

an be found

in T. R. Hester,"Notes on

Stone KnifeSharpening echnology n the

EgyptianOld Kingdom,"manuscript; nd F. L1.GriffithBeniHasan,

PartIII (London 1896).

Examination f FurnaceLinings

fromRothenberg ite #590 in Wadi Zaghra

Rothenbergsite #590 in the SE Sinai was

visited in

1905 by C. T.

Currelly,' who found neolithic arrow-

headsand

metallurgical rtifacts.B. Rothenberg arried

out a preliminary urvey n 1972 and an excavation n

1973.2The site is

describedas an EarlyBronze Age II

site in whichmetallurgical emainswere

discovered, n-

cluding rough slag adhering to furnace

walls and

remains of smelting furnaces. The furnaces were

describedas built of

medium-sized tones,and chemical

1. C. T. Currelly, n W. M.

FlindersPetrie,Researchesn Sinai (New

York 1906)239-240,pl.

170-171.

2. B. Rothenberg, inai

Explorations 967-1972,MuseumHaartzAn-

nual, Tel-Aviv 14 (1972) 35-36;B. Rothenberg,H. G. Bachman, nd

A. Lupu, "Two EmergencyExcavations n Sinai,"

private report

( 1974).

Figure

1. Scanning electron micrograph of refractory

illustrating

boundary between unaltered

sandstone structure on right and altered

structure on left (58x).

analysis showed the slag to be of a fayalite type, with

lessthan 1% oppercontent.

Description f the Samples

Samples 561A, 561C, and

561D were sent to us from

this site by B. Rothenberg,

and were describedas fur-

nace

linings. In each sample, a layer of

refractory

materialapproximately 0 mm. thick was coated

on one

sideby a black slag layer

which variedfrom 1 to 5 mm.

thick.

SampleExamination

Microscopic examinationindicated that the

refrac-

torymaterialmore than

5-15 mm. from the slag surface

consists of a rather poorly consolidated

sandstone in

which

angularquartzgrainsare bonded in a

matrixof

clay, feldspar,and mica. Up

to a depth of 5 to 15mm.

from

the surface there is severe alteration of

this

material, he formation of sphericalbubbles in a

hard

glass-quartzconglomerate.In the slag layer

there are

frequentquartz grain

inclusions and local areas of in-

tense

reddishcolorationcorresponding o copper

oxide.

No pellets of copper were observed,but thereare fine

particles of copper, in the size range 5-10,

microns

present, with irregular surfaces suggesting that the

temperatureat the

refractory nterfacewas not above

the melting point of copper

at the time theseparticles

wereformed.

Scanningelectron

micrographs f a polishedsurface

are shown in Figure 1.

At the right-handside the

irregular structure of angular quartz grains

of the

sandstone is apparent,

together with a fairly sharp

Documents

Functional Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Chipped Stone Tools